Welcome
Ahoy Mateys! I be talking like a pirate because I use the scientific programming language R to solve environmental problems, and I want to get you hooked on data science.
Here are few highlights of research I do on this site.
Route ships around whale hotspots
Background. With the possibility of an oil pipeline terminal being installed at Port Kittimat, oil tankers would transit the inner waters of British Columbia for the first time since the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. Aggregating marine mammal density surfaces (Best et al, 2015) into a single cost surface, this least-cost routing algorithm provides alternative ship routes to avoid marine mammal hotspots.
Try it out. Click on different points along the tradeoff curve to display the corresponding route in the map. Note the routes in the upper left are straighter (i.e. less wildlife aware) than the tortuous paths in the lower right (i.e. wildlife avoidant).
Site offshore wind energy responsibly
Background. Development of offshore wind energy promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but environmental compliance has been estimated to take 7-10 years and only one production facility exists in the U.S. (in Block Island, NJ). Seabirds can collide or be displaced by the long-term operation of wind turbines. In contrast, cetaceans are most effected by the acoustic impact of pile driving during construction. Using existing seabird densities and recently estimated cetacean density surfaces (Roberts, Best et al 2016), this decision framework maps the overall utility of wind profitability versus bird sensitivity. Clicking on any given pixel in the map pops up the cetacean sensitivity over the year for that site, thus highlighting the optimal month of the year to pile drive.
Siting Framework
Overview of methods for decision framework combingin wind profitability, seabird sensitivity over space, and cetacean sensitivity over space and time. Profitability to the wind industry is estimated as a function of transmission distance and wind availability. Seabird distributions get aggregated into a single cumulative sensitivity map with weightings based on sensitivity to offshore wind turbines. Each site (i.e. pixel on the map) can then be plotted in variable space as a tradeoff between wind profitability versus bird sensitivity. Each of these sites can be assigned a new utility value as a function of each axes, i.e. maximizing wind profitability while minimizing bird sensitivity. This new utility value can then be mapped out in space. Cetacean distributions are also aggregated into a cumulative sensitivity map, except weights are by extinction risk and a map is made for each month to capture variability in migratory patterns that could be differentially affected by episodic pile driving.
Try it out. Hover your cursor over the tradeoff plot, get the lasso tool and select optimal sites in the upper right quadrant. For the now highlighted pixels on the map, click on one of the pixels to determine the best month to pile drive based on endangered whales and dolphins being least present.
Calculate Ocean Health Index globally
Background. The Ocean Health Index quantifies sustainable use of the oceans globally across 10 broad goals (Halpern, …, Best et al 2012). This application helps users visualize the many levels of information as maps, goals as petals in the flower plot, time series and tables.
Ohi Framework
Conceptual framework for calculating the Ocean Health Index. Each dimension (status, trend, pressures and resilience) is derived from a variety of input layers and distinct set of equations.
Try it out. Click on a country to freeze the flower plot to that country in the upper right and explore the country goal scores in the flower plot.
Predict cetacean densities based on habitat
Habitat-based cetacean density models for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico | Duke MGEL
Citation: Roberts JJ, Best BD, Mannocci L, Fujioka E, Halpin PN, Palka DL, Garrison LP, Mullin KD, Cole TVN, Khan CB, McLellan WM, Pabst DA, Lockhart GG (2016) Habitat-based cetacean density models for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Scientific Reports 6: 22615. doi: 10.1038/srep22615. (Download)
tags: #sdg14 #decision-framework #whales #birds
Report on UN SDG14 Life in the Sea
The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 Life in the Sea
tags: #sdg14 #decision-framework #whales #birds
Monitor ship speeds to avoid whale strikes
Ship Cards speeding through whale strike advisories
tags: #reporting #whales #shipping
Resources
Here are a couple of the tools I use in R to create apps and generate reports.